Football News: Terry Not As Good As Adams, Valencia Loss Sees Neville Angry With Reporters And More

Image from: dw.com

1. Rosenborg swoop for young full back
A-League side Sydney FC have sold young left back Alex Gersbach to Norwegian Tippeligaen side Rosenborg. The 18 year old will be a big loss to the Australian side, having probably been their best player this season, but long term it should benefit them massively and Gersbach was always keen on a move to Europe. While the initial transfer fee will be decent in A-League terms, it is if he moves that Sydney stand to gain most, as they have ensured a sell-on clause was placed in the contract. Gersbach has only made 32 appearances in total in his career, adding 2 assists, 6 yellow cards and 1 red card in that time.

2. Barca in court over Neymar transfer
The court case in Spain over Neymar Jr's transfer to Barcelona from Brazilian club Santos in 2013 is set to see the player himself take the stand today and the club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, tomorrow. The previous Barca president, Sandro Rosell, who was in the role when the transfer happened, and Neymar's parents will also be in court to testify. The case began initially after a Brazilian investment fund, DIS, which had held 40% of Neymar's sporting rights, had complained of fraud and corruption over the deal. DIS claimed that the two clubs had conspired to conceal the true value of the transfer, in order to stop them receiving their full share. The transfer was originally valued at 57.1m Euros by Barca, 40m being paid to a company owned by the player's father, while Santos received just 17.1m. Spanish judicial authorities have estimated the deal to have actually amounted to, at least, 83.3m Euros. Barca are already set for a separate tax fraud lawsuit over this transfer, being accused of defrauding the Spanish taxman of 12.7m Euros due to splitting the fee between a number of different contracts with Neymar and Santos. Rosell resigned his post as president over the scandal which resulted. Neymar has had $47m in assets frozen by a Brazilian court over tax evasion allegations between 2011 and 2013. Maybe this is what Biggie Smalls meant when he rapped about "mo' money, mo' problems"? Or maybe these ridiculously wealthy people are just greedy? I will let you decide that.

3. Gary Neville gets angry over questions about his future
Former pundit and player, now turned head coach, Gary Neville, has hit out at the very people he used to work with after getting fed up with questions about his future. Neville's Valencia team have lost, again, under his leadership, having yet to win in La Liga since he surprisingly took charge of his friend and business partner's owned team, despite his coaching experience being limited to being a minor coach in the England set up. Now the pressure seems to be getting to him, as his team were booed off the Mestalla pitch following a 1-0 home defeat to lowly Sporting Gijon. Valencia have slid down the table to sit in 12th place, just five points ahead of the relegation places. This led to reporters questioning whether the fans wanted Neville to leave the club. "You're asking me about my position," said Neville. "I find this question ridiculous. It's from you. Don't put this on to the fans." He does have a point, the fans never wanted him in the first place, so why does anyone even need to ask if they want him to leave after failing to win a single game?

4. CSKA reject Musa talk
CSKA Moscow have rejected a fourth bid from English Premier League leaders Leicester City for their star striker Ahmed Musa with a warning. The Russian club have said they have no intention of selling the Nigerian in the January transfer window, though the 23 year old is keen to make the move. However, the pacey striker does have a £22.8m buyout clause in his contract, which could force them to let him go, despite their wishes.

5. Benfica admits things happen as Man Utd linked with young playmaker
With reports linking Manchester United with Benfica's 18 year old playmaker Renato Sanches, head coach Rui Vitoria has refused to rule out a transfer happening in the January window, merely saying "if things happen, they happen" when quizzed on the deal. Vitoria, speaking for SportTV said, "Renato is mature beyond his age. He is being protected by a group of players who support him and are giving him a lot of help. This situation is not difficult for us. If things happen, they happen. We all know that's the way it is. There is no point worrying over things that have yet to happen. There is no drama about all this. The team is very stable and that helps dealing with speculation like this."

6. Nice goal in Mexican football

7. Keown offers different view regarding Terry
Martin Keown has admitted he is not John Terry's biggest fan, amongst all the plaudits and fawning over the Chelsea player, who revealed he is set to leave the Blues in the summer. Keown, asked to sum up Terry in three words said: "Adams was better." A reference to his former Arsenal team mate and centre back partner Tony Adams. Keown said more in a piece in the Daily Mail: "I've never been his biggest fan. Chelsea need to change and bring in fresh blood. Maybe they need to remove any obstacles. I've not worked with him, but I wouldn't have been wholly comfortable with him as a team mate. I don't know how much I would have enjoyed working with him. I respect that people who played with him admired him. He was powerful in the dressing room, but was he too powerful? Nobody can question what he has achieved on the pitch - he is a Chelsea legend - but maybe he could have gone about some of it differently."

8. Another decent finish from Mexican football

9. Enrique admits Barca not at their best
Barcelona are three points clear at the top of La Liga with a game in hand, having beaten second placed Atletico Madrid 2-1, despite this Luis Enrique has admitted there is a lot of room for improvement. The performance against Atleti was unconvincing, despite the Madrid team ending the game with just nine men. Atleti dominated the early stages of both halves, with slow starts becoming something of a trend for Barca in recent weeks. Enrique made it clear this bothered him when asked about the performance. "Positive, obviously, because of the result against a direct rival," he said, before admitting: "But we will also analyse the game and find things to improve. We struggled to get going and went a goal behind after a chain of errors. We found it tough right to the end. What I take away from the game is the team's ability to dig in. We're spoiled around here - if you don't win 4-0, you've had a terrible game. But the fans understand this is a fantastic result."

10. PSG equal Ligue 1 record
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat St Etienne 2-0, consolidating their lead in France, which is now 24 points. While PSG looked defensively suspect without Thiago Silva they still had more than enough to get the victory needed to stretch their lead, as second placed AS Monaco slipped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Angers. The win moved PSG level with the Ligue 1 record of 32 matches unbeaten.

Written by Tris Burke February 01 2016 07:41:33